Dark Tendencies
by Zyneth
Summary: This doesn't read as a typical story, but as snippets of the main character's life. Maria Black was born to Bellatrix shortly before she broke out of Azkaban. Her father? Unknown. The Prologue is short, but still won't fit here, so I advise you check it out, just to see if it grabs your interest. Cue the era of Maria Black!
1. Prologue

Mere days before her escape from Azkaban, Bellatrix Lestrange gave birth to a daughter, but gave the baby her maiden name, Black. The identity of Marie's father is unknown, though the girl's surname suggests that it may not be Rodolphus Lestrange. She sometimes suspects that she is the daughter of Voldemort himself, and there are signs that this may be the case, such as the fact that Marie is a Parselmouth. Still, the true identity of her father remains a mystery that will never be solved.

She is often vain and narcissistic, though she cares deeply for her best friend, Kelly. Marie can sometimes be manic-depressive and appears highly unpredictable to all but her closest companions. Even as a first year she could work magic that many students struggle with on their OWL's. She is probably the wealthiest witch in all of England.

But much of this is far from public knowledge. It is known that she is a pureblood, adopted by another pureblood family, and that she is wealthy, but her parentage, and especially her ability to speak Parseltongue, remain a secret.


	2. Arriving, 1st Year

"Black, Maria," deputy headmaster Flitwick called out. There were a few murmurings at the Slytherin table, as many of them had heard of the Black family, who were, after all, one of the oldest wizarding families in the UK.

"That's impossible," a Slytherin boy whispered to his younger brother. "The Blacks have been extinct in the male line since the end of the Second War. It must be someone else with that name..."

Marie stepped forward, and though the Hat sitting on the stool frightened her, no one in the audience would have looked on her and seen anything short of the most fearless person to ever be sorted. Her hair almost fell to the small of her back, pitch black with blond highlights that contrasted stunningly without being too abrasive. "Well well!" said the Sorting Hat the moment little old Flitwick managed to place it on her head. It startled her and she had to remind herself that only she could hear it. "I never thought I'd see the likes of you. If I weren't privy to all the comings and goings of the headmistress' office, I would be thoroughly shocked. But you don't need to be afraid, my job is only to put you in a house, and I think we both know which one." Then, in a voice that everyone heard loud and clear, "Slytherin!" Her new housemates clapped loudly as she skipped over to them with a smile on her face.

"Marie," one of the older girls called to her, gesturing for Marie to take a seat with her, which she did. The first year's eyes widened upon noticing the prefect's badge that the elder girl sported. When the feast began, a blond girl named Kelly, whom Marie had already known. "So your last name is Black?" Marie nodded, while the other first year watched her intently. "Black, as in _the_ Blacks?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," Marie said.

"Impressive," the prefect responded. Before Marie could say anything, the prefect spoke again. "But how is that possible? I didn't think that there were any Blacks left in the male line. Who are your parents?"

Up until now she had been thoroughly enjoying the attention, but suddenly she found herself in a dangerous position. "Well, I'm adopted," she confessed. "My parents died in the Second War."

"Oh," said the prefect, and after an awkward silence, both her and Kelly started talking to other people. Marie was relieved that she didn't have to resort to saying that she didn't like to talk about her parents, because she hated to be misconstrued as weak. The real reason she avoided the topic was that, in the end, they would wish that they hadn't asked. Her mother had died in the war, and the identity of her father remained a mystery. Yet the fact that she had been given her mother's maiden name of Black hinted that her mother's husband might not have been her father.

As she was about to follow her house's prefects out of the great hall, a man whom her family had had over for dinner on occasion stopped her; professor Slughorn. "I apologize, as I know you must be very tired, but your parents were in correspondence with professor McGonagall and myself over the summer and it was decided that, as your head of house, I should speak with you at the first opportunity. Come, we'll go to my office." Indeed tired, she followed him, wondering what this could be about. When they arrived he motioned for her to sit. "I am aware," he began, "of the identity of your birth mother. I'm mainly here to say that I understand the complications it could involve, and that if anyone ever gives you trouble about it you can come to me. Does that sound alright to you?"

"Um, ok," said Marie, not sure of how else to respond.

"Good. I don't suppose that it's easy being the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange. Here, let me walk you to your common room."


	3. Arriving II, 1st Year

The Hogwarts Express wasn't the first place Kelly had encountered the last of the Black family line. Everyone is related to everyone in pureblood circles. Kelly's father was the cousin of the two Greengrass sisters from the war era, and was therefore connected to the Malfoy family. And the Malfoys knew _everyone_. Her second cousin, or Uncle Draco as she called him, had introduced the two just over a year previously. The meeting had been short though, and Marie had merely been introduced as being her own father's cousin's aunt's daughter, or maybe her second cousin's cousin... something like that; she couldn't remember the technical term, and she didn't think too deeply about it. Kelly had only been nine, after all. Now that she recalled it, she wasn't sure if that was their relation by blood, or by Marie's adoptive family.

They shared a compartment and were already well on their way to becoming friends by the time they arrived at Hogwarts, though they only really made small talk. When Marie's name was called for sorting, something was triggered in Kelly's mind. _Black... Black..._ Hadn't the Blacks been one of the oldest wizarding families in Britain? Yes, that sounded about right. Kelly recalled her mother mentioning them in one of her rants about how the old pureblood families were dying out. How could Marie be a Black if the Black name had been lost?

Her thoughts were interrupted upon the calling of her name. "Greengrass, Kelly!" Why did she feel so nervous walking to the stool, having the hat placed on her head? She would be in Slytherin, of course. She had no reason to fret, and yet the Hat's voice in her head spooked her. She couldn't recall what it said, but it sorted her into Slytherin, per prediction, in not quite ten full seconds. Well that was easy.


	4. Honeydukes Bitter, 2nd Year

"Did you know that Slughorn is having another little dinner party this Friday?" asked Kelly.

"Oh shoot, I forgot to buy any crystalized pineapple in Diagon Alley this summer!" Marie groaned as they passed the one-eyed witch on their way out of Defense Against the Dark Arts class. "I wish second years were allowed to go to Honeydukes." Marie swore, startling Kelly and causing her to trip.

"Ouch! What was…" Her voice trailed off. "Marie?" she said slowly, "what's this?" Marie knelt down to see what Kelly was talking about.

At first glance it appeared to be nothing more than scratches made at the base of the stone statue from years of having been tripped on and bumped against. Looking more closely, though, it seemed that strange glyphs had actually been carved into the worn stone. It was unlike any language the two girls had ever seen before. Then Marie began reading it. "It's just a bunch of sounds," she complained, "not words."

"How can you even tell? You're just pulling my leg, aren't you?"

Marie ignored her. "It says... hee-sce-shoom. Hesceshoom? No, 'dee.' That means 'dee.'" She mumbled under her breath for a moment. "De-cin-choom, dee-sen-dum... Diss-en-dum..." For a moment her voice became too low to hear. Then: "I've got it! It says, 'Dissendium.'" She stood up. "Dissendium!" Kelly looked at her friend like she was crazy.

They both started as the statue slid backwards, revealing a hidden staircase. Marie forced a hesitant Kelly to follow her into the hole, after which the statue slid back over their only source of light. Kelly made a griping noise. "Lumos," Marie muttered, looking around by the light of her wand.

"What was that?" Kelly squeaked, jumping back onto the bottom step. Something on the ground was moving and… hissing. Kelly's eyes went wide as Marie hissed back at it, causing it to stop in its tracks.

"I thought you were lying about being a parselmouth!" Kelly said. Marie continued her hissed conversation with the small snake that had somehow gotten down there. "Wait! Don't touch it!"

"Relax," Marie said as she allowed the snake to wrap itself around her arm, "it's just a common garden snake. Completely harmless. And I thought you were proud to be a Slytherin," she mocked as they continued down the passageway.

"Humph. What's down here anyway? Did it tell you?"

"Honeydukes. According to our new friend," she answered, gently caressing the creature wrapped leisurely around her arm, "a parselmouth once carved the password there, but in the language of snakes, so that someone like him could find the secret passageway. That's really weird. I didn't know that parseltongue had a written form. I guess that's why I could read it."

"So, you're really a parselmouth?" Kelly asked incredulously.

"Yep. For as long as I can remember."

The passage sloped downward for a long while, before finally sloping back up. Sure enough, there was a trapdoor at the end that opened into Honeydukes' cellar. After snitching a box of Slughorn's favorite treat from the basement, they filled their pockets and headed back down the passage in the hope of getting back before their afternoon classes started. "I wonder who wrote those weird things on the statue," Kelly thought aloud.

"Yeah, I'll ask... Wow, I'm the first person to ever find it. That's interesting; I guess it wasn't Salazar. What was that last bit, my little serpentine friend?" Though Kelly couldn't understand it, the sound of what the snake said next sent chills down her spine; but it didn't hold a candle to Marie's reaction. Her face went whiter than chalk as she slowly sank to her knees. She felt nauseous. A parselmouth... others _like_ him; could that mean more than just another parselmouth?

"What is it?" Kelly inquired urgently, "What did he say?"

After what felt agonizingly like hours to Marie, she finally had the strength to utter a single word: "Voldemort."


	5. The Boggart, 2nd Year

"What's all this ruckus about?" There was a traffic jam between classes on the ground floor. Pushing through the crowd, Marie found herself face to face with a possessed suit of armor.

"Step aside, step aside," came the sharp voice of professor McGonagall as she made her way to the front, where Slughorn was trying to clear the traffic jam. "Peeves, if you do not get out of there this instant, I'll have Horace set the Bloody Baron on your trail!" Turning, she said, "Get to your classes, students, the bell is about to ring." Most headed off, but a few stayed behind, poking at the suit of armor while the teachers were busy ushering kids away.

"Is that you, Peeves?" whispered Maria, tapping the suit of armor with her wand. The armor shook so hard that it began falling apart. Black mist leaked out of it, and she found herself standing before the spectral forms of her mother and Tom Riddle, locked in a gruesome and lustful embrace. From the way it was facing, most of the students could only clearly make out Voldemort, but Maria Black saw what they did not. Trembling, she tried to raise her wand, but her arm hung limp at her side. The walnut wand clattered to the floor, and Marie fell to her knees. People were screaming, and in her peripherals, the two professors seemed to be running towards her in slow motion.

Violent tremors seized her, forcing her onto her hands and knees as her body convulsed, hacking and sputtering as her breakfast left her body. She was sweating. She was shaking so hard that she could hardly hold her bladder. Yet her eyes were locked on the demonic duo, shimmering in a seductive, ethereal embrace. When the headmistress finally reached her, Marie had collapsed on the ground, unable to support herself yet unable to look away.

"Here!" McGonagall shouted, thrusting herself between Marie and the hellish phantoms. Though Marie was barely conscious, and though sweat clouded her vision, she thought she saw the specter transform. A boy was lying on the ground. He had long, mangy black hair and glasses. She knew that she ought to recognize him, but she wasn't thinking clearly.

"Ridikulus!" somebody, probably one of the teachers, shouted. A bright light filled her vision, and she saw the outline of the body rise to its feet and take a dueling stance. As a red beam of light came from the figure's wand, the whole shape began to dissolve, vanishing as if it were being sucked up into itself, until it disappeared with a bang.

The next thing she knew, she was being helped to her feet by professor Slughorn. The other students were staring at her and whispering. Slughorn silenced them with a single look. "_Many_ of us lost loved ones to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during The War. Now get to class immediately or you'll be serving detention alongside the boggart!" The hall was empty in seconds. "Here," Slughorn said to Marie, "I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey." Marie wanted to object, to say that she was ok, but she was in fact so not ok that she was unable to speak.

"Oh dear me," came the distressed voice of the school nurse as they reached the hospital wing, "what was it? A boggart! I thought we'd gotten rid of that blasted infestation in the staffroom. Come, girl," she said in a softer voice, taking Marie's hand. With a flick of her wand, the grime was cleaned off Marie, and she was handed a flask of something that smelled funny. "Well drink up!" Marie had no sooner swallowed a mouthful than her stomach issued another heave and ejected the potion onto the floor, along with the few things left in her stomach. "Perhaps we can try again later," the nurse mumbled, taking the flask from Marie before she dropped it, and then lead her to a bed.

There she lay, demons gnawing away at her mind. Slughorn was whispering something to Pomfrey, and though Marie couldn't make it out, she knew what they were saying. "It wasn't real," she tried to tell herself. "It was just a boggart. It was just a boggart..."


	6. Arriving III, 4th Year

Three years ago, Uncle Ed had been appointed as the Brazilian ambassador to the British Ministry of Magic. It was decided that it would be good for public image if he had a child attending Hogwarts. Having no children of his own, and as Hogwarts was a bit more prestigious, Rodrigo's parents had sent him to the UK with his uncle, which he was surprisingly apathetic about.

At fifteen years of age, Rodrigo was sorted in the Headmistress' office on the first day of what would from thenceforth be considered his fourth year. The Sorting Hat took a good number of minutes on him, but eventually chose Slytherin over Hufflepuff in what the Hat had called, "An atypical situation in which the only thing you lack more than ambition is any resemblance of a work ethic."


	7. The Prefects Bathroom, 5th Year

The Hogwarts Express' shrill whistle cut through the noisy station. "Are you sure you have everything, dear? Oh, where's your badge?"

"I'll put it on later," Marie muttered in a barely audible voice. Her adoptive mother gave Marie a concerned look. "I'm fine mom. Can I go now? I don't want to walk all the way to Scotland, and it's hard enough to find an empty compartment without being the last one to board," she griped, pulling away. The whistle sounded one last time. "Yes, I'll write. Goodbye," she said exasperatedly before her mother even managed to pose her request.

She was making her way down the isle when Teddy, a third year Gryffindor, burst out of a particularly noisy compartment, facing her with a smile. "Hey Marie, wanna join us?" She just shoved him against a wall and kept going. At the very end of the train she spotted some girls in her house. They barely noticed her enter, except for her best friend Kelly, who was preoccupied with some pictures that another girl was showing her. After straining to place her trunk in the overhead compartment, Marie sat down and allowed her long black hair to fall over her face as she began fiddling with her diamond bracelet. She thought about getting a book, but the only book she wouldn't be made fun of for reading would probably get her expelled, or at least her new prefect's badge revoked. Not that she cared. Quite honestly she didn't want to wear it at all, at least not in her present mood.

"Marie? Marie!"

"Huh?" she said, coming out of her reverie. Rain was splattering against the dark window, a dead giveaway to how long she had been sitting there. Her sore body could testify to that as well.

"Marie!" Kelly demanded, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Did you not hear anything that we were saying?" Kelly rolled her eyes at her friend's hesitation. "We were trying to figure out who our new girl prefect is. Do you know?" Marie just grunted. "I'm surprised that you didn't get it. You would have told me if you had, right? Right?" she asked a second time as Marie pulled on her serpent-embroidered robes, digging in her purse for her badge. She had potential as a prefect, definitely. An elite among the purebloods, skills with a wand that were unrivaled by anyone in her year, and yet she was volatile; a loose cannon. Everyone knew that about her, but what they didn't, the professors did, and given her heritage, it blew her away that professor Slughorn and the headmistress had chosen her anyway.

"Um, yeah. Sure," she said, pinning it to her chest, facing away from her friends and studying her reflection in the mirror. She had long black hair that curled mildly in gentle ruffles despite its silky smoothness. She brushed the black locks and blond highlights out of her face and turned to leave. "I have to go to the meeting. I'll be back in a few."

"Hey, is that a prefect badge?" Kelly asked incredulously as the other girls just gawked. Marie ignored them and stepped out of the compartment, Kelly rushing to catch her before she got to the prefects' compartment where she and the other prefects has to listen to the head boy and girl go over a bunch of pointless rules. "Marie," Kelly said, grabbing her shoulder, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Wasn't worth mentioning," Marie answered nonchalantly.

"Oh come on, we all know that you're manic depressive, but just 'cause you're on one of your down swings doesn't mean you can keep things like this from your best friend."

"Sorry. If I'm ever appointed head girl I'll try to remember to let you know," Marie said with a small smile, entering the compartment last of everyone that should have been there.

"_You're_ a prefect?" the female Ravenclaw prefect asked incredulously, everyone else asking the same question with their faces.

"What's it to you?" she asked sharply. The girl leaned back in her seat and kept her mouth closed. Marie's mood swings were notorious, and some scary things had been known to mysteriously happen when she became too bothered by someone. The meeting was dull, with the head boy from Ravenclaw doing most of the talking.

She felt the train slow down minutely on her way back to her compartment, and by the time she had her trunk ready they were almost at a complete halt. Everyone else had their hoods up because of the rain, but Marie kind of liked the sting of the heavy drops on her face. All she ate at the feast was a single piece of chicken, and was relieved when Professor McGonagall dismissed them for bed.

Marie got up and slipped into a passage behind a tapestry the moment she knew no one was looking, making her way up a secret staircase that came out almost directly across from the prefects' bathroom. Her mind was racing and she just had to try it out. "Blissful Billywig," she whispered before pushing the door open. The moment she stepped in the tub began filling itself. She pulled her robes off and started unbuttoning her black form-fitting blouse. Tossing it aside, Marie bent over and pulled her long black skirt down, stepping out of her shoes at the same time. She straightened up and examined her reflection in the mirror.

"Are you taller?" the mermaid on the wall asked, her soft laugh chiming beautifully like a bell. Looking back at her reflection, Marie spent a moment admiring the stark contrast of the blond highlights in her pitch-black hair. She'd worn it that way since she was barely ten. She turned to examine herself sideways as she removed a black tank top, exposing a black lace bra. A slender body, but not anorexic-like, which was good. Walking to the edge of the now filled tub, her hands reached behind her and unclasped the back of her bra, allowing it to fall to the ground. Using her thumbs to pull her panties past her thighs and ankles, she left them next to the tub as well. Lowering herself down, she sighed deeply as the hot water lapped against her bare skin and mixed with the drying rainwater. Eyes closed, the scent of the soapy suds permeated her nostrils. Marie's hand slid down and her fingers were reaching for the sensitive spot between her legs when she was startled by a knock on the door.

"Marie, are you in there?" Kelly whispered. "Can I come in?"

"Oh," she said, startled at the interruption. "Um, sure. You're by yourself, right?" she asked hastily as Kelly slipped in.

"No, I have a camera crew with me," Kelly answered sarcastically. "Of course I'm alone, silly." Locking the door behind her, Kelly slipped off the straps of her nightgown, all she was wearing, and let it fall to the floor before sinking down in the water next to her best friend. "How was your summer?" she asked eventually, twirling her curly dark blond hair around her finger.

"Oh, it was alright. A bit duller than I'd have liked, but what can you do, right? I don't know, I guess I just really couldn't stop thinking about my mom, you know?"

"Do you mean..." asked Kelly, "your birth mom?" she finished in a whisper, though the only soul around to hear anything was the mermaid, who already knew everything about everyone.

"I mean, I've just been wondering... is it a good or a bad thing for me, her being who she was?"

"Well, on the one hand you owe being the richest girl at Hogwarts to her, and I can guarantee you that no one else here can trace their family tree as far back. Well, half of the tree, at least."

"Don't even go there," Marie moaned, throwing her head back and squeezing her eyes shut. Yet as sure as she didn't want to dwell on it, her mind refused to go anywhere else. "I mean, I have her maiden name as my last! That's not a good sign. And the whole family knows that they married for nothing but blood. If they never loved each other, it makes you wonder... it could be anyone."

"Well, you don't know for sure that it was /him/; a family as old as the Blacks' could have it as a recessive gene or something."

"It? Oh right, the parseltongue. It's just creepy though, the idea..."

"Maria Cassiopeia Black," Kelly said firmly, placing a hand on each of her friend's shoulders, "even _if_ He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was your father, you don't have to be any more your father's daughter than he was his father's son. Do you understand me?" she asked, forcing Marie to meet her eyes.

"Yes, I understand you," Marie sighed, not entirely consoled.

"Your mother completely worshipped him from what I've heard," the mermaid piped up. "Bella was head girl in her time too, just as T-Tom was head boy in his," she pointed out, shivering at the memory of the last name's infamous bearer. "But he wasn't much of a looker later in life, and considering that lack of hair and a nose, I doubt he even had the necessary baby making equipment."

Marie looked like she was about to puke. "Stop! I'm getting a mental picture that I do _not_ want to live with!"

"Although," the mermaid daftly continued, "you were born right before Bella broke out, about the right time considering when he first returned.

"Shut up!" Kelly yelled at the picture, putting an arm around her friend.

"I can't imagine what being born in Azkaban could do to a girl's head," added the mermaid. "It's fucking messed up." Kelly grabbed her wand and blasted a black fluid all over the painting, which succeeded in shutting her up.

"Here here, let's not think about that," Kelly said soothingly, hugging Marie.

"Not to mention that if Rodolphus wasn't my dad, then I might not be a pureblood. I'd die," she said, a small smile showing through the salty tears. She didn't cry very often, and never in front of anyone she wouldn't be willing to trust her life with. Kelly kissed her cheek.

"Race me to the other end of the tub?" she asked playfully when she could tell that Marie was feeling a little better. Marie laughed and kicked off, catching Kelly off guard. It felt nice to be able to occasionally revert to that old playful childhood simplicity, though there were always a few differences with age.

Once everything in the vicinity was thoroughly soaked, they stopped and hugged each other tightly for a long moment. Backing up a little, their arms still around each other, Kelly gently rested her hand on Marie's cheek, looking into her eyes. Ever so slowly they inched closer together, but Kelly pulled back just as their noses bumped. "Sorry," Kelly apologized awkwardly.

"I don't mind," Marie whispered, now stroking her thumb against Kelly's cheek instead. They started leaning in again, so slow as to be almost imperceptible, but at the last moment one of them twitched and they ended up resting their heads on each other's shoulder.

After a good long while, Marie spoke up. "I'm tired. We should head to bed." She hoisted herself out of the tub and gave Kelly a hand. They dried themselves off with a couple towels and Kelly walked over to where she had left her nightgown. Marie swore. "My underwear is dripping wet!"

Kelly let loose a boisterous laugh. "Just go skirt and shirt," she suggested, trying to keep a straight face.

Marie paused after pulling her tank top on. "I can't go commando in a skirt!"

"Didn't stop me," Kelly giggled, twirling in her nightgown to make a point. In a few minutes they were laying in their beds down in the dungeons. It struck Marie that Kelly and she had almost made out. What was that about? And it wasn't the first time something had almost happened either, it was just the first time it had almost happened while they were bathing together, the difference it made actually scaring her a little now that she thought about it.

Rolling to face Kelly's bed, Marie remembered something that her friend had mentioned in a letter over summer break. "So did you ever end up getting together with that one home-schooled neighbor boy?"

"Hell no," said Kelly disgustedly. "I found out he was a squib!"

"Eww, forget I asked," Marie giggled.


	8. Shortly Thereafter, 5th Year

On the way downstairs Kelly asked, "Remember that squib I told you about last night? Do you think it'd be ok to if I just used him, instead of a relationship or something? Kind of like a pet, you know."

"A kinky pet," Maria smirked. "I think you can do better than that, though. Just slip some muggle boy a potion and use him... squibs are just too pathetic. Or how about switching roles in that game you talked me into playing last year. I point to a guy and you see if you can bed him."

"If you're trying to get back at me for pointing you to that bloke who had the warts, I _swear_ I didn't know," Kelly stated defensively, the grotesque memory making Marie's skin crawl. "How about this. Do you see those Chinese twins over there? Let's see who can get to one first."

"I would," Marie started, "but I think they're gay. Didn't you notice they're holding hands? Twincest is fucking gross."

"Good point." They sat down at the Slytherin table. Grabbing a couple pieces of toast each, they made sandwiches with eggs and bacon. Kelly was just taking a bite when Marie started adding some strawberry jam to hers. "That's weird," she said plainly.

"As am I," Marie said with a maniacal twinkle in her eyes.

"You have serious problems. You know that, right? You should really see Madam Pomfrey."

"Ha! St. Mungo's couldn't fix this head case!"

Just then a sixth year boy in their house came up and conspicuously took a seat next to Marie. "I was thinking that we should get together sometime. Do something naughty."

"I might be able to find time to take off to a broom closet during lunch," she replied, making his eyes go wide with shock and poorly concealed anticipation.

"Yeah, great!" he said, hopping up to rejoin his friends. "I told you that little slut would be easy," they overheard him say.

With a sigh that only Kelly could hear, Marie got up, walked over to him, and grabbed him by his shirt collar. "Let's get something straight buster! No one ever uses me; I use them. Got it?" she asked, pushing him back. "Oh, and the date is off," she added before rejoining an entertained Kelly.

"Screw you!" Kelly yelled after him.

"When and where?" one of his friends asked with a smirk, but not eliciting a response.

"That's supposed to be my line," Marie whispered to Kelly, glaring after the boys.

"I genuinely pity your future husband."

* * *

The two girls were skipping class and sitting beneath a tree at the edge of the lake, bare feet hanging lazily in the water. "Did I ever tell you about my first time?" Kelly asked out of nowhere. Marie was surprised. Ever since that night last week in the prefects' bathroom they had been getting into the most unusual conversations.

"You mean that weird kid back on the last week of third year?" Marie asked.

"No… I had one before him; but it _was_ third year. Can't remember his name though, graduated a couple of years ago."

"You can't remember his name?" Marie incredulously asked her friend.

"Hey, we were drunk, alright?"

"At least I was sober enough to remember my first time!"

"Oh yeah, then who was it?" Kelly demanded.

Marie thought for a moment before finally settling with a simple, "Go to hell."

"One step ahead of you, babe," Kelly laughed. "Anyways, I think you were actually there; just drunk and passed out on the ground or something. Merlin's beard, I can't imagine the third years now doing anything like we did."

"True that, but it's sounding vaguely familiar. Please continue."

"Well, I don't remember much else. But wow, thirteen? That just seems so young now that I think about it, even for us girls who get coal in our stockings."

"Hmm." They were quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the gentle breeze in their hair, but eventually Marie drew her legs out of the water and turned to fully face her friend. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be wi-... never mind."

"What?" asked Kelly, suddenly intrigued.

"You know... another gir-," but just then the bell cut her off.


	9. Doubles' Dueling, 6th Year

Finally they were the only ones left outside. A light sprinkle had begun, and everyone else wanted to stay dry. Marie loved the rain, and Kelly would gladly put up with it if it meant spending some time alone with Marie by the lake. Kelly let go of Marie's hand and moved to her lap, gently stroking and toying with it. Leaning in, Marie placed her lips firmly against Kelly, feeling her best friend's breath with her tongue. As Kelly's hand made its way up Marie's skirt, the latter lowered her head and slid it down to Kelly's breasts. Unfortunately, they were interrupted the moment Kelly's hand reached the target.

"Oh shit, we have to get to that dueling contest!" They ran to the great hall after quickly putting their boots back on and lacing them up.

"... Versus, Maria Black and Kelly Greengrass," they arrived just in time to hear.

"Them?" Kelly asked incredulously as a couple young kids walked onto the dueling platform."

"I guess they just have the best fight the worst first so that the finals don't end up being boring," Marie said, drawing her wand. Once the signal was given, both kids were on the ground before they had opened their mouths. "Well that was easy."

A few rounds later they were finally pitted against someone with a bit of a reputation. _He_ would almost certainly be a prefect next year. "Ted Lupin and Victoire Weasley versus Maria Black and Kelly Greengrass.

"If two things ever didn't go together, it's veela and Weasley," Kelly taunted, making the younger opponent's face match her hair.

"Mimblewimble," Victoire shouted.

"Doesn't work when you don't need an incantation," Marie taunted, blasting a hole where they had just been standing.

"Protego!" Ted shouted, barely preventing his girlfriend's hair from catching fire as the two Slytherins ganged up on her. The match went on for almost a minute, but soon the two younger kids realized that they were being toyed with, which finally got them angry enough to go completely red at what hit them next.

"Carpe Retractum," said Kelly, pulling Ted to the ground in a fashion that he certainly wasn't prepared for. Marie silently used Levicorpus to flip Victoire upside down as Kelly soaked her with water to add to the humiliation of leaving her in the air with her knickers on public display, now wet enough to practically see through, Ted being made to trip every time he tried to help her. Finally professor Flitwick managed to make his call to end the duel heard over the roaring laughter and wolf whistles.

By dinner time the duels were over, leaving Marie and Kelly as the victors, and providing several of their opponents with moments so embarrassing that they would not be soon forgotten, though the worst was definitely Victoire Weasley, who's minidress had fallen so far that only her arms kept it from falling past her shoulders by the time Flitwick put an end to the making fun of their third year victim. After dinner, the two girls made their way down to the dungeon arm in arm.


End file.
